1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of certain counties to impose a hotel
1-3 occupancy tax.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 352.002(a) and (d), Tax Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The commissioners courts of the following counties by
1-8 the adoption of an order or resolution may impose a tax on a person
1-9 who, under a lease, concession, permit, right of access, license,
1-10 contract, or agreement, pays for the use or possession or for the
1-11 right to the use or possession of a room that is in a hotel, costs
1-12 $2 or more each day, and is ordinarily used for sleeping:
1-13 (1) a county that has a population of more than two
1-14 million;
1-15 (2) a county that has a population of 90,000 or more,
1-16 borders the Republic of Mexico, and does not have three or more
1-17 cities that each have a population of more than 17,500;
1-18 (3) a county in which there is no municipality;
1-19 (4) a county in which there is located an Indian
1-20 reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States government;
1-21 (5) a county that has a population of 17,500 or less,
1-22 that has no more than one municipality with a population of less
1-23 than 2,500, and that borders two counties located wholly in the
2-1 Edwards Aquifer Authority established by Chapter 626, Acts of the
2-2 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993;
2-3 (6) a county that borders the Gulf of Mexico;
2-4 (7) a county that has a population of less than 5,000,
2-5 that borders the Republic of Mexico, and in which there is located
2-6 a major observatory;
2-7 (8) a county that has a population of 10,000 or less
2-8 and borders the Toledo Bend Reservoir;
2-9 (9) a county that has a population of less than 10,000
2-10 and an area of less than 275 square miles;
2-11 (10) a county that has a population of 30,000 or less
2-12 and borders Possum Kingdom Lake; [and]
2-13 (11) a county that borders the Republic of Mexico and
2-14 has a population of more than 250,000 and less than 500,000; and
2-15 (12) a county that borders the Republic of Mexico and
2-16 in which there is located a national park of more than 400,000
2-17 acres.
2-18 (d) The tax imposed by a county authorized by Subsection
2-19 (a)(4), (6), (8), (10), [or] (11), or (12) to impose the tax does
2-20 not apply to a hotel located in a municipality that imposes a tax
2-21 under Chapter 351 applicable to the hotel.
2-22 SECTION 2. Section 352.003, Tax Code, is amended by adding
2-23 Subsection (d) to read as follows:
2-24 (d) The tax rate in a county authorized to impose the tax
2-25 under Section 352.002(a)(12) may not exceed three percent of the
3-1 price paid for a room in a hotel.
3-2 SECTION 3. Section 352.102, Tax Code, is amended by adding
3-3 Subsection (c) to read as follows:
3-4 (c) A county that borders the Republic of Mexico and that is
3-5 further described by Section 352.002(a)(12) shall use at least
3-6 one-third of the revenue collected each fiscal year from the tax
3-7 imposed under this chapter for the purposes authorized by this
3-8 chapter in unincorporated areas of the county.
3-9 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-15 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3043 was passed by the House on April
18, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3043 was passed by the Senate on May
14, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 24, Nays 6.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor